NASCAR announce official driver penalty verdict after 'INTENTIONAL' COTA wreck

NASCAR has announced an official verdict on Austin Cindric's intentional wreck of Ty Dillon at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday.

Sunday's race at COTA represented the first road course event of the 2025 Cup Series season, and it delivered in terms of entertainment.

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Christopher Bell ran out the winner in the end after a thrilling four-car battle in the closing laps of the race.

However, early on at COTA, Cindric made contact with the right rear of Dillon’s No. 10 car, sending the Kaulig Racing Chevrolet spinning.

NASCAR has deemed this move to have fallen under the category of intentionally wrecking another vehicle under under Sections 4.4 B&D: NASCAR Member Code of Conduct Penalty Options and Guidelines.

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NASCAR announce penalties for Austin Cindric

Despite that judgment, however, NASCAR has revealed that Cindric will not receive a suspension for his part in the incident, despite drivers such as Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott having suffered the same verdict in recent years.

However, the key difference, according to NASCAR's managing director of race communications, Mike Forde, is that those suspension incidents occurred on speedways, whereas this was a road course.

That, and the fact that it didn't result in a caution flag, were cited as reasons for the avoidance of a suspension by Forde on this week's episode of Hauler Talk.

Cindric has not avoided punishment altogether, though. Instead of a suspension, NASCAR has announced that Cindric has been docked 50 driver points and slapped with a $50,000 fine.

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